
I celebrated my 60th Birthday in April 2020 , whatever I may have had planned for the day I never imagined I would spend it in quarantine, sewing.
I spent the day making face masks. Yes I know, there is little scientific evidence that they are an effective preventative or protective measure but nevertheless if it makes the wearer a bit safer and others around them be a bit safer then it’s a good thing, and we should be happy to wear them for everyone’s sake.

I founds so many patterns, so much advice, but I took the simplest route, I bought a kit from my local fabric shop, Fabrix; https://fabrixlancaster.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/FabrixLancaster
The kit gave enough materials to make 9 masks . I requested it via fb, paid by BACS payment and it arrived within a couple of days. Wonderful, if we weren’t in lockdown, I’d probably have just planned to go to the shop the following weekend, and then forgot all about it. I rather like shopping on line in my pajamas.

This is a really simple mask, anyone could have a go, it’s made of 3 layers, a coloured fabric for the front, a plain fabric for the back and a thin Vilene lining. On the first three masks I made I followed the pattern when it came to the placing of the tucks, so they appeared loosely equidistant on the finished mask, but found it difficult to place them. I fiddled around for ages trying to get them looking equal.
Then I saw a tutorial for a similar shaped mask, where the mask was pressed in half, and then each half in half again, then used the press lines as a guide. Which means the folds fall lower on the mask but are more easily equally spaced. It works just as well, and takes a heck of a lot less time to complete.

My beloved is happy to wear the non-flowery ones, he has 3, I managed to make 9 out of the fabric provided, so I kept two for myself, gifted two each to my sister and niece. Now I need to find a different material to make masks for my nephew and stepson, and maybe a different mask pattern. I like the one I saw on Peter Lappin’s instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/peterlappin a free PDF from @dhuratadavies. I think if I can find a bandana I have somewhere I’ll try this pattern, it’s possibly a fabric young men might swallow rather flowery fabrics from my stash. Possibly. Although somehow I find its difficult to get the young to understand the risks and comply. So many have died and still we see people not wanting to take reasonable precautions.

I wear these masks frequently, they are much more comfotable than the paper surgical masks, I wash them with the towels on a hot wash, and iron them on a hot. setting.